The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by 140 points to cross the 17,000-mark in early trade on Wednesday on sustained buying by funds amid a firming Asian trend.

The 30-share BSE index, which gained 149.48 points, or 0.89 per cent, in the previous trading session, rose by another 140.32 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 17,003.13 in the first five minutes of trade this morning.

All the sectoral indices were trading in the positive zone, with gains of up to 1.74 per cent.

Likewise, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty Index moved up by 85.75 points, or 1.70 per cent, to 5,102.95.